Series 04 Episode 06

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Series 04 Episode 06

Carolina and Jamie disagree about telling Emily about Cameron as they get ready to eat dinner, while Adam and Jo consider potatoes and the past continuous.

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Transcript

Adam

Adam: Hello and welcome to Episode 6 of Series 4 of LearnEnglish Elementary Podcasts. My name is Adam and, as always, Jo will be joining me later to talk about some of the language in the podcast.

As usual I'll start by looking at your comments on the last episode. If you remember, Tess and Ravi talked about the British personality. People all over the world seem to think that the British are cold and reserved, not very friendly. Tess and Ravi weren't sure that it's true (and neither were Jo and I!), but maybe that's because we're British. So what do you think? Is it true or just a stereotype that people believe?

And, from the comments that we received, it seems that most of you do think that the British are a little reserved and sometimes unfriendly. Giulia12 from Brazil lived in London for a year. She says 'I had very few British friends but they were very friendly with me all the time which I truly appreciated 'cause they made me feel at home.' But although she had a few good friends, Giulia found most other British people very polite but a little cold. Maybe, as Meli12 and Antomun both say, British people need to get to know you a bit before they can relax and be more open to friendship.

Betty1 sent a comment from the UK and she also thinks that the British aren't very friendly. She's lived in Britain for a few years and says that she doesn't have any British friends at all. But she finds elderly people often ask her where she's from and enjoy talking to her. That's interesting, Betty – perhaps older people do enjoy talking to strangers more than young people.

Tanni from Pakistan agrees with the British attitude to the home and privacy. She thinks it's the only place where you can be comfortable and it should be private. And Emir Çağrı from Turkey says that he thinks the British seem to be reserved, but he actually likes that about us – it isn't always a bad thing.

And finally, Englishlover2015 writes about some other ideas that people in Yemen have about the British – we always talk about the weather, we say 'please' and 'thank you' a lot, we're well organised in queues and we're always punctual. Tess and Ravi have talked about some of these topics in earlier podcasts. So listen back if you want to hear what they said.

So thanks for all your comments and, please, keep sending them in. And I'd like to remind you again about the Elementary Podcasts app with lots of features for you to help you learn more English, including questions to test your understanding of the podcast. You can download the app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store and there's also a link to the app on the LearnEnglish website. And there are even more exercises on the website plus other features.

And now for today's episode. We're going to see what Carolina and her friends are up to. Do you remember what happened in the last episode? Yes! Carolina and Jamie saw Emily's boyfriend Cameron kissing another woman. Will they tell Emily .... or won't they? Let's find out.

Jo: 'He was kissing her'. Carolina saw Cameron – and what was he doing? He was kissing the woman in the pub. Let's have another example, Adam.

Adam: OK. Um ... Hey, Jo. I saw you yesterday in the street.

Jo: Really? What was I doing?

Adam: You were carrying three big bags of shopping.

Jo: Ah, yes ... I was going home from the supermarket. ... So why didn't you help me!

Adam: Sorry! I was in my car – I was driving! There are exercises on the website and in our LearnEnglish Elementary Podcasts app about past continuous and other things connected to the podcast – including ways of cooking potatoes, Jo.

Jo: Mmm. And don't forget to write to us with your comments. See you next time!

Tags

Comments

Hellos I´m from Mexico. In the Weekend, People here, eat in family, the sons and grandchildren the come to grandparents to have a delicious meal. But in the week, the single persons buy food for eat because they don´t have time to make food, the job is very absorbent. However married people afther the school, go home and eat with here kids, some times they go to a restaurant o buy somethig, It depends.

This is entirely up to you and your needs and interests. LearnEnglish is very flexible and you can use it in many different ways. You can find more information on how to use the site most effectively on our Help pages.

I cook at home. I prefer natural meals to unhealthy food. Although, sometimes I can buy a takeaway from the vegetarian restaurant. I don't like waiting for waiters, and dishes, and the bill. It takes too much time.

I always cook at home ans think that do it OK. But I hate cooking every day. I like to cook in the mood only. It's hard for me to cook every day but I have to do it beacuse it more cheap than go to a cafe or a restaurant.
I like fried eggs with tomatoes. It's tasty and easy to cook)

Sometimes I cook at home. Especially I really enjoy cooking meal when I try to new recipes. Because I believe that trying different flavours enhance my creativity. Besides I think that is more healthy, tasty and low-cost . But lack of time is one of the factor of restrictive.

I prefer fried potato together other fried vegetables like squash, eggplant, pepper and tomato. Optionally we can sprinkle yogurt with garlic over.